Baseball bat



Nov. 16, 1937. v w. HERKIMER ET AL A 3,099,521

BASEBALL BAT Filed July 17, 1936 and Wm lialh ATTO R N EYS PatentedNov.'16, 1937 PATENT OFFICE BASEBALL BAT Hal'old W. Herkimer. and HarlanHolcomb,

Niagara Falls, N. Y.

Application July 17, 1936, Serial No. 91,125

8 Claims.

v The present invention relates to a baseball bat and primarily to oneespecially adapted for soft ball or indoor ball playing, although it isnot restricted to such use, since certain features thereof areapplicable to equipment for other games.

In playing the game of baseball indoors or on the play ground, the basesare. much closer together than in the regulation hard ball game ofbaseball, and, therefore, the players, as well as the spectators, are atcloser range to the batsman. Heretofore the bats employed in this gamehave been similar to those used in the regulation hard ball game, exceptprobably as to their di mensions whichare usually smaller. At times thebat will slip from the hand of the batter, and at other times he willthrow his bat, in the excitement of the game, so that injury to theother players as :well as to the spectators frequently occurs.

An object of the present invention is to provide a baseball bat whichwill increase the safety of the game and tend to reduce the number ofinjuries. The invention further has for its object to provide a softball bat of special formation to properly receive the impact of the softball,

whereby the batter may obtain his natural and full swing as hehits theball without fear of overdriving the ball. 1 3 These and other objectswill manifest themselves as the detailed description progresses,reference being bad to the accompanying drawing wherein Fig. 1 is anelevation of a bat constructed in accordance withthe present invention,portions being broken away for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the bat and depicting inbroken lines the moment of contact with the soft ball;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view illustrating theself-conforming characteristic of the hand grip of the bat; and

Figs. 4 and 5 show modifications of the invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral l designates thecore of the bat which for lightness is preferably formed of wood or atube of light metal alloy. The core may be cylindrical throughout,although that depicted 50 in Fig. 1 is provided with a slight tapertoward the hand engaging end of the bat.

Enveloping the core is a cover 2 of soft pliable material which willyield as well as cushion the impact of the bat against a ball or otherobject. Preferably the cover is of a sponge rubber or synthetic rubbercomposition, but is not restricted thereto. Whensponge rubber, is used,it may be adhesively secured to the core by a rubber ce ment orotherwise so as not to slip thereon while playing the game. wound orotherwise applied to the core, it may be preformed in the shape of anenvelope with a slit 3 in its side through which the core may beintroduced. The slit 3 may extend longitudinally of the envelope and besecured in a closed position by suitable means, such as a rubber cement.The slit is herein shown as being provided in the hand gripping portionof the bat and terminating short of the innerend thereof whereby suchend maybe distended or stretched over the adjacent end of the core. Thispermits both endsof the core to be fully concealed and protected so thatshould the bat strike any person, the force will be dampened.

The bead 4, usually provided on baseball bats to reduce the chances ofthe bats slipping through the hands, is formed integrally with thesponge rubber envelope. This not only permits the core to be of uniformsize for easyinsertio'n into the entrance slit 3, but it accomplishesthe intended purpose of retarding slippage. of the bat to a. practicalextent. In this connection it will be noted from Fig. 3 that the spongyor readily yielding texture of the cover permits the fingers of thehand, when gripping the bat, to sink deeply into the cover with thoseportions intermediate the fingers and under lighter gripping pressureextending upwardly between the fingers in more or less of aninterlocking manner.

If desired, the hand gripping portion of the bat may be provided withsurface projections 5 A to increase the margin of safety and facilitategripping the bat by the hands. When the cover is made of sponge rubber,its body cells may be enclosed by a non-porous skin or layer 6 ofrubber, or this may be in the form of a fabric enclosure. This outerprotective layer 6 will serve to preserve the cushioning quality of theenvelope by excluding the light and preventing deterioration of therubber texture. The protective layer may be molded integrally with therubber envelope or secured thereto otherwise, as by rubber cement.

In practice, the soft pliable covering on the firmer core will readilyyield upon coming into contact with the ball, generally indicated by thebroken line 1 in Fig. 2, so as to increase the surface area contactingthe ball and thereby enable the batter to more properly place or directthe ball. The soft yielclable cushioning surface of the While the covermay be' bat will prevent injury, since it will dampen the force of thebat striking any of the other players or spectators, and when the gameis being played indoors. as it frequently is in the school gymnasiums,the noise of the bat being thrown around will be materially silenced.Thebatter is enabled to firmly grip the bat and swing naturally as hardas he wishes, since the impact of the bat with the ball will be dampenedso that the flight of the ball will be checked to a certain extent butmore readily guided as the soft pliable cover spreads under the impact.Furthermore, should the core become broken or split, the cushioningenvelope will prevent parts of the bat flying ofi toward the players orspectators.

While the cushioning envelope is illustrated as being co-extensive andfully enclosing the core, it is obvious that modifications in the mannerand method of enclosing the core, together with the construction of ,thebat, may be modified so as to adapt the inventive teachings herein toother physical embodiments of ball bats and clubs, and the hand gripsthereof. The reference to sponge rubber in the appended claims is not byway of limitation but rather inclusive of other coverings possessive oflike or substantially similar cushioning characteristics.

The cushioning envelope may be formed in sections, each sectionenveloping or enclosing a part of the core and meeting substantiallyflush with the companion section completing the safety enclosure of thecore, whether or not the enclosure is wholly enclosed or partially so.The covering may be divided into sections longitudinally of the core, asshown in Fig. 4, or transversely of the core, as shown in Fig. 5. FromFig.

1 it will be observed that the cushioning cover increases in thicknessover the opposite ends of ,the core. This will serve as a measure ofprotection since the bat, if released from the hands accidentally, willmore than likely come in contact with a person or object at one end orthe other.

What is claimed is:

1. A baseball bat, comprising a rigid core enclosed by a conformableenvelope of sponge rubber firmly united therewith and providing a softpliable ball engaging portion and a compressible cushioning hand grip,the envelope having 9. Iongitudinal slit provided adjacent one endportion for introduction of the core thereinto.

2. A baseball bat, comprising a rigid core enclosed by a conformableenvelope of sponge rubber firmly united therewith and providing a softpliable bail engaging portion and a compressible cushioning hand grip,and an outer protective layer enclosing the envelope,

3. A bat for soft ball games and the like, comprising a rigid core and asectional covering therefor of soft pliable material conforming to thecore, the sections of the covering having their edges abutting andJoined together.

4. A bat for soft ball games and the like, comprising a rigid corehaving a heavy covering of sponge rubber substantially enclosing thesame, the covering adjacent each end portion of the core being increasedin thickness and overhanging the ends of the core to enclose the latter.

5. A play ground bat for soft ball, comprising a sponge rubber bodyproviding a hand gripping portion and a ball impact portion, and a rigidcore enclosed by said body and giving thereto a self-sustainingcharacter, said sponge rubber body covering the core to a substantialdepth and giving the bat shaped appearance to the bat. while at the sametime serving as a protective factor if and when the bat is accidentallythrown, said core and sponge rubber body being adhesively securedtogether.

6. A play ground bat for soft ball comprising a self-sustaining bodyhaving an impact surface covered by a heavy layer of sponge rubber ofsubstantial thickness sufllcient to yield and spread laterally under theforce of the impact with the ball to thereby increase the effectivesurface contact with the ball for enabling the batter to dirct theflight of the batted ball, .the layer of sponge rubber extending overthe end of the body as a safety factor.

'7. A play ground bat for soft ball comprising a rigid core and a softpliable covering of sponge rubber wholly enclosing the core from end toend and overhanging the ends thereof to guard against injury whileplaying, said covering providing a yieldable surface for yielding underthe impact of a ball ,thereagainst.

8. A safety play ground bat for soft ball, comprising a readilyyieldable and shock absorbing body providing a hand gripping portion anda ball impact portion, and a rigid core for the body giving thereto aself-sustaining character, said shock absorbing body covering the coreto a substantial depth and giving the bat shaped appearance to the bat,while at the same time serving as a protective factor, said core andshock absorbing body being secured together to avoid creeping of thelatter on the former, the shock absorbing body yielding and spreadingunder the force of the impact with the soft ball thereby to increase theeffective surface contact therewith.

HAROLD W. HERKIMER. HARLAN E. HOLCOMIB.

